The overwhelming question on millions of minds is when exactly will things be up and running again? In the sports world, NBA officials are reportedly hopeful to resume their season in June after a three-month hiatus.
League officials have come up with a best case scenario target date of mid-June to resume operations, The Athletic reports. This proposed timeline would include four weeks of training camp before getting games underway. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban backed this belief in a recent interview.
“If things really go our way, it’s not inconceivable to me — and this is me being hopeful and not being scientific — that we could potentially play games in early June,” Cuban said in a radio appearance on Pittsburgh’s 93.7 The Fan. “I think we’re coming back. I can’t tell you exactly when, but this is purely a science and doctors thing. My attitude always is it’s not about if the glass is half empty or half full, it’s who’s pouring the water. In this particular case, it’s the scientists pouring the water. All I know from all the science and everything that I’m reading, I think we’re making enough advances that several of them will come through so we can start planning what a comeback would look like.”
Health experts have recently began pinpointing that certain areas of the country are nearing a plateau in virus cases. Nonetheless, the June timeframe may not necessarily allow fans back in the arena.
“I’m a big believer in American exceptionalism, and everything I’m starting to hear in terms of the science is coming along and the medical advances that we’re making to fight this thing makes me very positive,” Cuban added. “If I had to bet, and this is more a guess than a bet, I’d say early June is when you see teams start to take the field and maybe play games just for television.”
The NBA season has reportedly considered shifting games to one location upon its potential return, with Las Vegas largely emerging among sources as the likely spot. Officials have maintained since suspending operations last month that they wish to complete the season with a proper postseason which may very well run into late summer. Should that be the case, there have also been reports of delaying the start of the 2020-21 season to around Christmas in order to give players an appropriate offseason.
Despite the myriad of contingency plans in the works, Commissioner Adam Silver is not moving forward with a definitive outlook just yet. Silver recently revealed that he does not expect there to be any decision on the season until May as peak coronavirus cases are expected in regions around the country throughout April.
